Posts Tagged ‘Blue Jackets’

The Red Wings played the Blue Jackets tonight in Columbus. Steve Mason was the goalie for the Jackets and the Wings went with Joey MacDonald since Jimmy Howard had just played the previous night. Draper was a healthy scratch, Hudler was out with the flu, and Salei was still in California on family leave since his wife had recently delivered a new baby girl. Osgood was supposed to be back but he wasn’t quite recovered yet from his sports hernia surgery.

The Wings played well tonight. There were not a lot of goals in this game and they came early. In fact the game winning goal was scored just 33 seconds into the game. It was on the very first shift. Helm, Eaves and Miller enter the zone and Helm shot the puck. Mason blocked it but the rebound came to Miller who was right in front of the empty side of the net. He tapped it in and it was one to nothing Wings. Later in the period the Red Wings were on a power play and Franzen passed it through the slot to Filppula who quickly shot and scored to put the Wings up by two goals.

Although there was no more scoring in the game, the Wings allowed the Blue Jackets 37 shots on goal. That’s way too many but it was mostly due to Detroit getting penalized a lot, especially in the third period. Luckily, Joey MacDonald battled hard and got the shut out even though he was severely peppered by the Blue Jackets.

Rafalski and Datsyuk both left the game after hard hits. Rafalski went awkwardly into the boards and seemed to hurt his knee but in the post-game report they said he was fine. Datsyuk had some sort of lower body injury but hopefully it isn’t too serious.

This was the fourth win in a row for the Wings who seem to have recovered nicely from their mini-slump. This was also the 300th win for Mike Babcock since joining the Red Wings. He accomplished this feat in just six seasons. Only two coaches in history have hit the 300 mark in six seasons. They were Scotty Bowman with Montreal and Glen Sather with Edmonton, so Babcock is in some highly elite company!

The Wings played Columbus tonight at Joe Louis Arena. The starting goalies were Jimmy Howard and Steve Mason.

The Red Wings got off to another slow start in this game. They were outshot by the Blue Jackets in the first period. As the game progressed the Wings managed to get more shots on net but Mason denied them at every turn. The Blue Jackets also did a great job of being in the way and blocking shots. They never allowed the Red Wings to really play their game.

Columbus scored the first goal when Antoine Vermette released an absolute rocket of a one-timer that beat Howard. I’m surprised the net even stopped it. That was shortly after the midway point of the first period. The Wings were trying to catch up from then on but were never able to score. Columbus scored two more goals including an empty-netter at the end.

This was a frustrating game to watch. Detroit did have a lot of offensive opportunities but the Blue Jackets were on them so quickly that they often mishandled the puck, missed the net, put it right into Mason’s gut or just had a bad bounce. I think all of these things were the direct or indirect result of Columbus playing good defense and keeping Detroit off their game.

The Wings will have to get right on the plane tonight and head to Nashville where they’ll face the Predators tomorrow night.

The Wings had a rematch tonight with the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Blue Jackets were winners in the shootout last night in Columbus. Tonight’s game was in Detroit. Joey MacDonald was the goalie for the Wings since Jimmy Howard suffered a bruised knee last night. He hopes to be back for Tuesday night’s game. Thomas McCollum was called up to back up MacDonald. Steve Mason was the starter for the Blue Jackets for the second night a row.

The Wings also lost Holmstrom in last night’s game. He’s out for an extended period with a broken hand. Tomas Tatar was called up to round out the forward lineup.

The Blue Jackets took it to the Red Wings early in this game. It only took them about 30 seconds to score the first goal and they were leading two to nothing by about the five minute mark. The Wings dug in though and settled things down. They kept working and scored two late first period goals to even up the score by the first intermission. This was one of those nights where the puck seems to be bouncing off anything and everything and ending up in the net. It was a good night to just throw the puck at the net and hope for a goal. Filppula and Miller had the first period goals for the Wings.

Early in the second period Columbus scored again to re-take the lead. Just a minute later though Franzen got that goal back and then later in the period Rafalski scored to give the Wings the lead at the second intermission.

Columbus scored early in the third period and Draper answered with one for the Wings shortly after. The rest of the third period was a great battle with the Wings up by one and Columbus trying to tie. With just over a minute to go and with his net empty, Rick Nash got the game tying goal for the Jackets. He just threw the puck on net with a ton of traffic in front of MacDonald. He never saw the puck and had no chance of stopping it.

The game went to overtime, but unlike last night, it didn’t last long. Just 45 seconds into the OT Franzen fired a bullet that beat Mason for the win.

This was a great game with a lot of exciting action, crazy bounces and goal scoring. The Red Wings did well to come back after being down early. Joey MacDonald played really well even though he gave up a lot of goals. It was just one of those nights where the puck was pin-balling all over the place. Drew Miller had a great game and it was the first three point night of his career. Draper, Helm and Ericsson all had two point nights and Draper picked up his 200th career assist.

So the Red Wings got three out of a possible four points from the home and home with Columbus. Not a bad outcome especially after just being on a long road trip. Now the Red Wings head back out on the road to play Pittsburgh on Tuesday and St. Louis on Thursday.

The Red Wings played the Blue Jackets tonight in the first half a home and home on back to back nights. Jimmy Howard was in net for the Wings and Columbus went with Steve Mason.

The Blue Jackets started the game with more jump than the Red Wings. They got two goals in the first period. I’ll give Jimmy Howard a break on the first goal. It was banked off the back boards to the other side of the net and he didn’t get over in time, but to be fair, he couldn’t tell which side it would bounce back to and he had to try to cover both sides at once, so that was a tough one. The second goal however, hit him in the glove and he just missed it. That one was on him, I think.

A bit past the halfway point of the first period Howard took a shot off the inside of his right knee where there’s no padding. He collapsed immediately and had to leave the ice with assistance. Later in the game they said that his x-rays were negative but he had some swelling so we’ll have to wait and see how serious it is. At least it’s not broken. Joey MacDonald came in to relieve Howard and there was no one left to back him up.

The Wings got into the game in the second period. Drew Miller scored a great goal in which he made a brilliant move to shake his defender and then went to the net. He went in strong on Mason and chipped the puck in over his shoulder. It was a beautiful thing. Then later Filppula had the puck near the blue line and Mason was way out to challenge. Hudler got in behind him right next to the net. Filppula spotted him and put the puck right on his stick instead of shooting it. Mason had no chance as Hudler scored the game tying goal.

The Red Wings were dominant in the third period but neither team was able to score. Late in the period Holmstrom was knocked down during one of his net-front battles. He seemed to be hurt and left the game. We’ll have to wait for word on that but this is getting ridiculous!

The battle and stalemate continued through overtime period and the game went to a shootout. Bertuzzi’s shootout attempt was particularly fancy. He put the puck and his stick back between his own legs and then pulled it back out front and shot. It was didn’t go in but it sure did look cool. None of the first six shooters scored so the shootout went to an extra round. Vermette managed to get the puck by MacDonald and Franzen wasn’t able to score so the Blue Jackets got the extra point.

It was a shame that the Wings didn’t get two points but after being down two to nothing and losing their starting goaltender in the first period I think they did a great job just to get one. The Red Wings will have to regroup, figure out the injury situation and be ready to play the Blue Jackets again tomorrow night in Detroit.

The Blue Jackets came to Detroit this evening for a rematch of Friday night’s game. Once again the goalies were Howard and Mason.

Mike Modano’s wrist injury turned out to be serious. He had to have surgery on Saturday to repair a severed tendon and he’s out of the lineup indefinitely. In the meantime Helm, Eaves and Hudler were all able to play and shouldn’t have to take turns sitting out for a while.

Friday night the Wings broke the Blue Jacket’s home winning streak and tonight they broke their road winning streak.

The Red Wings played very well. It took them a little while to get started but from the second period on they totally dominated even while killing off and extended 5 on 3 power play.

Kronwall, Helm and Filppula all scored even strength goals and Cleary scored an empty netter at the end to seal the deal.

Jimmy Howard had another superb game. There wasn’t much he could have done about either goal allowed.

The Red Wings are sure off to a great start this season. Let’s keep it going, guys!

The Red Wings played in Columbus tonight with Jimmy Howard as their starting goalie. The Blue Jackets went with Steve Mason. Hudler was back in the lineup for this one and Miller was a healthy scratch.

This game was a serious goaltending duel. Both Howard and Mason were fantastic. Howard had one highlight reel save after another and even had to face a penalty shot. The Wings were shorthanded for what seemed like most of the game so Howard had to be good.

Mason also stopped a lot of point blank chances at the other end.

Franzen scored a beauty for the Wings after Bertuzzi made a sweet pass to connect with him. Filppula also scored with a power play goal that turned out to be the game winner.

The one goal that the Blue Jackets scored was a second chance opportunity after Howard made a great stop on a point blank shot.

Modano left the game in the second period after being cut on the wrist by a skate blade. There was no word on his condition by the end of the game. He didn’t react for several seconds so hopefully the cut was that deep and there won’t be any damage to the tendons.

This was a solid road game for the Red Wings. The Blue Jackets played hard and Mason was great. The Wings were just a little bit better.

Tonight was the second half of the home and home with Columbus. Jimmy Howard was in net for the Wings and Steve Mason was the goaltender for Columbus.

The first period had a great pace and a lot of scoring chances both ways but no goals were allowed.

In the second period Jimmy Howard had some help from a few goal posts and there were a lot of blocked shots but there were still no goals allowed by either side. The Wings were outshooting the Jackets 22 to 18 at that point.

There was an exciting moment in the third period when Helm was awarded a penalty shot. He came in fast but Mason poked the puck away before he got a shot off. The Wings had a ton of shots in the third but Mason remained strong.

Regulation time ended with no score so they went to overtime.

In the overtime period the Wings and the Blue Jackets both had power plays, although it was a short one for the Jackets. Neither team was able to score in the overtime either so they had to determine a winner by shootout.

The Jackets went first in the shootout. They started with Nash. He hesitated long enough for Howard to commit and then put the puck around his pad and in. Datsyuk came up, made a nice move and beat Mason high over the glove. Then Voracek went. Howard stayed with him and didn’t give him anything. Williams made a nice move but Mason didn’t bite. Huselius shot one that Howard gloved. Kronwall shot a backhander that went wide. Umberger shot and Howard stopped it. Bertuzzi was up next. He came in slowly skating from side to side and faked a few shots. Finally he shot one high that Mason got a piece of but it hit the post then hit Mason in the back and then went into the net ending the game.

So the Red Wings won it in the shootout and that gave them 100 points for the 10th season in a row. It’s nice to see them continue that streak since they have the longest currently active run of 100 point seasons. At one point in the season it didn’t look like that would hit that mark this year and then they went on an absolute tear.

This was a pretty exciting game even though there wasn’t any scoring. It was a superb dual between two great goalies. Howard had a relatively easy night facing 22 shots while Mason had to turn away 45. This game didn’t really mean much to either team since the Jackets are out of the playoffs and the Wings have clinched. The only thing left to play for was the 100 point mark for the Wings.

The Columbus Blue Jackets came to Detroit tonight to play the Red Wings. The goaltending matchup was Jimmy Howard against Steve Mason. Lebda was out of the lineup tonight in favor of Lilja.

Early in the first period Filppula took the puck away in his own end and Bertuzzi brought it to the Blue Jackets’ end. He dropped it back for Kronwall who ripped one as Stuart went to the front of the net. Mason had trouble seeing it and it found the back of the net to make it one to nothing early in the game.

A few minutes later the Wings were caught in a change. Lidstrom tried the outlet pass up the middle but Umberger picked it off and started toward the net as Lidstrom was heading out of the zone. Umberger stepped around Lidstrom and shot the puck perfectly into the top corner tying the game at one.

Eaves hit Pahlsson as he was falling along the boards and the Columbus players didn’t like it. Some of them went after Eaves and he ended up fighting with Russell. Helm was involved, too. Luckily Helm didn’t get in the face as he had a freshly broken nose from the previous game. The fights didn’t amount to much. The Wings did end up with a power play out of it but weren’t able to score.

Late in the first period a Blue Jackets’ pass hit a skate and bounced between Filppula and Lilja to Pahlsson right in the slot. He shot it quickly before Howard could react and scored to take the lead.

A few seconds later Blunden crushed Stuart with a big hit and was called for boarding. Luckily, Stuart didn’t seem to be hurt on the play. The Wings had 1:03 of power play time left over to start the second period.

There was no scoring in the second period thanks in part to some monster saves by Steve Mason and Jimmy Howard. There was also a fantastic defensive play by Lilja. He saved a goal by sweeping the puck away after it got in behind Jimmy Howard.

There was also a scary incident when Kronwall went down awkwardly after hitting a rut during a race for an icing. He got up liming and it looked like he might have hurt his knee. He stayed out there though and didn’t miss a shift so hopefully it was nothing.

In the third period the Wings had a power play when Blunden was called for tripping. It was a pretty soft call because it looked like Ericsson was falling down anyway but Blunden’s stick was between his skates. On the power play Zetterberg fired the puck and it hit Holmstrom’s skate in front and bounced down and into the net tying the game at two.

After the goal Umberger complained so much that he was given an unsportsmanlike penalty. On that power play Lidstrom launched a rocket that hit Datsyuk’s stick and went into the net to take the lead just forty seconds after they had tied the game.

A few seconds later Cleary ripped one and scored again for the third goal in 1:16. Suddenly the Wings were up four to two. Brassard was given a game misconduct for complaining after that goal. The reason they were so hot was that they didn’t think the original penalty should have been called in the first place. They really lost their composure. It was probably the culmination of a very frustrating season for them.

Shortly after that goal Blunden scored after making a beautiful move on a give and go play and beating Jimmy Howard.

There was no more scoring after that so the Wings ended up winning three to four after a crazy third period.

It wasn’t the cleanest win I’ve ever seen but they got the job done. That was the home finale for the Wings. Two more road games and then it’s the playoffs.

The Red Wings played against the Columbus Blue Jackets tonight at Joe Louis Arena. The Blue Jackets are currently one of the worst teams in the league but again, the Wings can’t afford to underestimate anybody. Teams with nothing to lose can sometimes play ferocious hockey. The goalies tonight were Jimmy Howard and Steve Mason.

Early in the first period the Wings scored. Franzen and Holmstrom did some nice fore-checking and took the puck away in Columbus’ end. Datsyuk got the puck and tossed it to Holmstrom near the front of the net. Holmstrom shoveled it around Mason and in to take the one nothing lead.

A bit later Howard took the puck behind the net and tried to pass it to Stuart in the corner. Dorsett intervened and Murray picked up the puck. He quickly put the puck in the net before Howard could react. That tied it up a one apiece.

After one period the game was disturbingly close. Detroit was only outshooting Columbus by one. Most of the other stats were pretty even as well.

In the second period Detroit was on the power play. Datsyuk had the puck and stepped around a few Columbus players into the slot. He had all day to shoot so he waited for an opening and then released shot that was absolutely perfect. He put it right over Mason’s shoulder and into the top of the net. Mason never had a chance. That made it two to nothing Wings.

In the third period the Wings got the puck in the net but the goal was waved off. There was a long video review as they tried to determine if it was kicked in by Bertuzzi. The play started when Zetterberg threw the puck towards the net and it went in off Bertuzzi’s skate. His foot moved slightly towards the net but after the review they decided that it was not a distinct kicking motion so it was three to one Wings.

In the third period Franzen went down to block a shot and it hit him in the right in the laces of his right skate. He was in a lot of pain and missed a shift or two. Eventually he came back out and seemed okay. Hopefully, it won’t be a problem.

Late in the third period the Blue Jackets were on a power play. Tyutin shot from the point. The puck hit Datsyuk’s skate and then was tipped into the net by Umberger. Suddenly this game that had seemed fairly one sided was one shot away from being tied.

The Blue Jackets pulled the goalie at the end and generated quite a bit of offense but the Wings kept them at bay and held on for their seventh win in a row.

Great job, Red Wings! Let’s keep this hot streak rolling right into the playoffs!

The Red Wings were in Columbus tonight to give the Blue Jackets their chance at revenge after the Wings beat them two nights ago. Jimmy Howard was in net again for the Wings and Steve Mason was in for the Jackets.

Both teams came out looking ready to play. There was a fast pace to the game and both teams had a lot of energy.

In the first period Rafalski was crushed into the wall by Boll. It didn’t look like a particularly dirty hit but it was powerful. Brad May decided to stick up for Rafalski and got into a fight with Boll. It took a while for the fight to get going as they both seemed to be waiting for the other to make the first move. Once they got going though it was pretty good. May connected with Boll on one punch that just about leveled him. Somehow Boll stayed on his feet though and the fight continued. The fight was pretty even. Boll probably through more punches but May had the best one. They each got five minute majors.

The first period ended with no scoring although there was a lot of good back and forth action.

In the second period Janik was hit by Picard and flattened. He got up angry and he and Picard dropped the gloves and went at it. It was another pretty spirited fight. You could tell that both teams really wanted this one.

There was also no scoring in the second period. There were some incredible saves at both ends. Howard and Mason both stood on their heads to keep the game scoreless. It was turning into a major defensive and goaltending battle.

Regulation time ended with still no score. For a game without any goals, this one was anything but boring. There was incredible end to end action and amazing saves. There were also very few whistles.

Late in the overtime period Modin brought the puck into the Red Wings zone and shot one at Howard. Howard stopped the shot but the rebound happened to come right back to Modin who had moved through the slot to the other side of the ice. There was no way Howard could get over to the other side in time to stop the second shot. Modin had a wide open net and he put it in for the overtime game winner.

The Wings played really well tonight and you have to hand it to Jimmy Howard. He did about all he could do. Everybody had really good energy in this game. If Mason hadn’t been absolutely on the top of his game, this would have turned out much differently. It was a shame to lose it but at least they got a point.